Taking Mindfulness Online

In the midst of online learning, educators are being the ultimate multitaskers with a million and one things to do everyday. At times, the to-do lists are longer than ever, with additional administrative tasks and extra check-ins with students it sometimes feels impossible to fit it all into one day. Focusing on time management is crucial to help make everything fit but more importantly scheduling time to look after your own mind should be an essential part of your daily routine. Equally, encouraging your students to take time for themselves is also important. Teachers and students are spending more and more time online each day and this is presenting us with new challenges such as teacher burnout and increased levels of anxiety for all.

Taking time to be mindful comes with a variety of benefits such as improvement of cognitive performance, resilience and the reduction of stress. The best way to teach our students about mindfulness is through modeling. At the end of the day our students look up to us and what better way to learn than through good examples. In order to be a good example, we must first think about our own mindfulness practices before we begin to preach to our students. Find things that bring you joy, it might be something as simple as taking a walk in the fresh air or following some mindful breathing exercises at the beginning and end of your day. Once you figure out what helps you to press your reset button it’s time to start making it a habit. Soon, you won’t even have to think about doing it, the activity will just become another part of your day!

Mindfulness for our Students

Help your students to understand how the brain works - This will help them to understand the benefits of mindfulness and allow them to see how it can help them in their daily lives.
Talk about mindfulness within your lessons - Help your students to make it part of their daily routines by incorporating it into your lessons. They don’t have to take up a lot of time. Why not try to add a short belly breathing or alternate nostril breathing exercises. Bringing awareness to your breath helps you to recentre and regain focus.
Written Reflection - Reflection is not just beneficial for academic purposes. It is also beneficial in our daily life. Journaling is becoming increasingly popular, why not give your students some reflective prompts to work on throughout the week. They don’t have to be shared with the class, they can be for their own personal use.

With new stressors in our lives and an enormous amount of change at present allowing time to be in the now and press the reset button will help us all to feel more grounded and ready for life and learning! We would love to know what mindfulness practices you are using in your classroom! Please feel free to share below!